Timeline of Earth-1 (1950s to 1960s)

1950

Unspecified month in 1950

McCarthyism, AKA the Red Scare, begins in the United States.

Jonathan and Martha Kent discover that their young foster son Tim Tates (Mighto of the planet Ulgar) has been using his super-powers to commit crimes. After tracking him down, they discover he possesses adult intelligence, and the super-powered child uses super-hypnotism to cause them to completely forget his existence. Leaving Earth on a mission for his true parents, Mighto soon meets a radiation-creature on another planet that gives him amnesia, causing him to forget who he is for several years until he becomes a teenager. [“The Kents' First Super-Son,” Superboy #108 (October, 1963).]

January, 1950

January 21: Pete Ross is born in Smallville.

January 31: President Harry Truman orders the development of the hydrogen bomb.

February, 1950

February 19: Bruce Wayne (Batman) born to Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne.

February 20: Hal Jordan is born.

February 29: On Krypton, Kal-El is born to Jor-El and Lara. (Kryptonian date: 39 Eorx, 9998)

March, 1950

On Krypton, Jor-El discovers the Phantom Zone and proposes it successfully as a method of “execution” for Kryptonian criminals, replacing the previous method of putting criminals in suspended animation and sending them in a capsule into orbit. Thanks to his latest contribution, Jor-El is elected as a member of Krypton's ruling Science Council. (Kryptonian date: 3 Ullhah, 9999)

March 22: Under the direction of the goddesses Athena and Aphrodite, Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons forms two figures of raw clay in the form of baby girls, one made from light clay, and one made from dark clay. Aphrodite, knowing Hippolyta's dearest wish is to be a mother, brings the two clay statues to life. After the goddesses leave, Mars the god of war appears and takes away one of Hippolyta's infant daughters despite her pleas to stop. Later, the gods and goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, Hercules, and Mercury arrive to bestow the remaining child with beauty, wisdom, strength, and swiftness, naming her Diana after the goddess of the moon and mistress of the hunt. Princess Diana is raised on Paradise Island to enjoy the heritage of the Amazons. Meanwhile, Mars calls Hippolyta's dark-skinned daughter Nubia and raises her as his own daughter on an island off the coast of Africa named the Floating Island, called Slaughter Island by the Amazons, and also known as Mars Isle or Marzal. Note: Despite hints that Diana may be hundreds if not thousands of years old, there is more evidence that indicates she is still a young woman when she becomes Wonder Woman and goes to live in Man's World. There are hints that Aphrodite and Athena are motivated to create Wonder Woman after seeing how powerful the god of war has become after two World Wars; Wonder Woman is their effort to provide a counterbalance to warlike mankind. [“The Golden Age Secret Origin of Wonder Woman,” Wonder Woman #159 (January, 1966); “The Secret Origin of Wonder Woman,” DC Special Series #19 (Fall, 1979); “The Second Life of the Original Wonder Woman,” Wonder Woman #204 (January-February, 1973); “War of the Wonder Women,” Wonder Woman #206 (June-July, 1973)]

June, 1950

King Faraday has his first case. [Danger Trail #1]

On Krypton, a young man named Ak-Var steals a revered relic called a Sun-Stone from a museum as a prank, along with his accomplices Vas-Quor, Brenn-Bir, and Kyl-Ibo. After the theft, his accomplices escape, leaving Ak-Var to be captured by the police. Ak-Var is sentenced to 19.5 Kryptonian years (equivalent to 26.9 Earth years) in the Phantom Zone. Note: The story claims that Ak-Var is given a 30-year sentence, but neither 30 Earth years nor 30 Kryptonian years is possible, since the Phantom Zone wasn't discovered until after Kal-El's birth. Many years later, long after he is finally released after his sentence is completed, Ak-Var becomes Flamebird II, partner of Nightwing II (Van-Zee). [“The Man from the Phantom Zone,” Action Comics #336 (April, 1966)]

June 18: Clark Kent's “given” birthday.

June 25: The Korean War begins with the North Korean invasion of South Korea.

July, 1950

July 17: Lana Lang is born to Prof. Lewis Lang and Sarah Lang (nee Potter).

August, 1950

August 17: Lois Lane is born in Pittsdale to Sam and Ella Lane.

November, 1950

November 1: An assassination attempt on President Truman by Puerto Rican nationalists occurs.

December, 1950

December 5: Reporter Perry White becomes a part-time, entry-level editor at the Daily Planet, beginning a career as an editor that would result in him becoming editor-in-chief of the paper in 1971. Sometime after this, Perry serves as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, working in the army's intelligence staff during part of the Korean War. [“Jimmy's Robot Slave,” Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #62 (July, 1962); “The Executioner's List,” World's Finest Comics #171 (November, 1967)]

1951

Unspecified month in 1951

Doctor Mist is called upon to deal with an increasingly powerful Gareth Gallowglass, who is now 15 years old and has used his telekinetic abilities to keep everyone else off Grim Island for the past three years. Discovering the truth, Doctor Occult visits Grim Island and meets Doctor Occult of Earth-2, Captain Marvel of Earth-S, Margo the Magician of Earth-X, and Yarko the Great of Earth-4. Together, the mystical heroes of five Earths confront Gareth to stop his island from being a menace to each of their worlds as a gateway to Hell. After a short battle commences, a time-traveling Abby Cable of Earth-1 from 1987 convinces Gareth to allow the other mystics to help him ward off the forces of Hell by founding a new school of magic called the Grimoire Academy to defend five Earths from a demonic invasion. Doctor Mist becomes one of the school's founding fathers. Grim Island is renamed Grimoire Island. [“Secret Origins: The Books of Magic: Times Past, 1951: Founding Fathers”]

Matthew Cable is born.

January, 1951

January 3: On Krypton, a criminal named Rog-Ar hypnotizes a scientist named Quex-Ul into believing that he had committed Rog-Ar's crime of killing rondors, a beast with a horn able to heal any disease. Quex-Ul opens up the Hall of Healing, using rondor horns to power healing machines, but he is soon caught by the police. Quex-Ul is sentenced to 18 Kryptonian years (equivalent to 25 Earth years) in the Phantom Zone. [“The Super-Revenge of the Phantom Zone Prisoner,” Superman #157 (November, 1962)]

February, 1951

February 19: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for passing secrets to the Soviet Union.

May, 1951

Adam Blake, now 20 years old and in his senior year at university in Midwest City, displays telekinetic abilities to move objects with his mind. Seeking help to know more about himself, he approaches Prof. Emery Zackro, a physicist who surmises that Adam is a mutant born 100,000 years ahead of his time. Following Zackro's advice, Adam Blake invents the costumed identity of Captain Comet so that evil men will not seek to exploit his powers as Adam. Meanwhile, a mysterious gigantic spinning top appears in the U.S. Southwest, but it proves impervious to harm, even after an atomic bomb is dropped on it. Six more tops appear around the world, all sucking up the atmosphere. Captain Comet discovers that the tops are controlled from space. He invents and constructs a spaceship of his own design called the Cometeer (which uses a faster-than-light spectrum drive) and heads to the dark side of the Moon, where he discovers a giant alien ship and learns that the Astur race seeks to take Earth's air in order to make the planet habitable for their population, which has been traveling in suspended animation for 1000 years. Captain Comet discovers that all but one of the Astur race has died. After that last survivor commits suicide, the ship moves away from Earth, and the tops cease to be functional. Note: A Superbaby story in New Adventures of Superboy #24 indicates that Captain Comet preceded Superboy's career by a few years, which means that Captain Comet is officially Earth-1's first super-hero. Shortly after this story, Adam Blake graduates from university and gains a job as a library information clerk at Midwest City Library. [“The Origin of Captain Comet,” Strange Adventures #9 (June, 1951); “The Air Bandits from Space,” Strange Adventures #10 (July, 1951).]

July, 1951

Captain Comet, traveling through space in the Cometeer, visits the diamond-shaped planet Hyperba, where he meets Radea, a 19-year-old woman who is also an evolved mutant many centuries ahead of her people. Together they overthrow the corrupt Chadra, and Radea becomes Hyperba's new leader. [“The Girl from the Diamond Planet,” Strange Adventures #12 (September, 1951).]

The planet Krypton celebrates the beginning of year 10,000 in the Kryptonian calendar.

August, 1951

After the Earth is swiftly transported to the star of Alpha Centauri, four light years away from the Sun, Captain Comet learns that stone men who have lived in the center of the Earth since it was formed are responsible. After he helps the stone men return to their original star system of Alpha Centauri, he returns the Earth to the Solar System. [“When the Earth Was Kidnapped,” Strange Adventures #13 (October, 1951).]

September, 1951

September 8: 49 nations sign the Japanese peace treaty in San Francisco.

September 15: Adrian L. Chase (Vigilante II) is born to attorney Charles Chase and his wife.

October, 1951

A group of aliens led by one named Sandor, traveling by comet, take over Captain Comet's mind and turn him against the Earth. But when he falls asleep and becomes Adam Blake, he defeats and imprisons the aliens, then tells the world the truth. [“Captain Comet, Enemy of Earth,” Strange Adventures #15 (December, 1981).]

November, 1951

November 12: Alec Holland (Swamp Thing) is born to Dr. Larry and Alice Holland.

December, 1951

Captain Comet battles the Synthetic Men, five artificial men built by the government from a new substance called neoplasm, who seek to make thousands of duplicates of themselves to conquer the world. He defeats them by turning their bodies into marble, and the Synthetic Men are mounted as statues outside the small town of Calnit. [“Beware the Synthetic Men,” Strange Adventures #17 (February, 1952).]

December 24: The color television is introduced in the United States.

1952

Unspecified month in 1952

Selina Kyle, the future Catwoman, is born.

James W. Gordon is promoted to lieutenant for his bravery as a policeman.

January, 1952

The Grimoire Academy of Applied Learning on the multi-dimensional Grimoire Island opens its doors to students from Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-S, Earth-X, and Earth-4. This school is built and founded by the 16-year-old prodigy Gareth Gallowglass (the island's caretaker), Doctor Mist, Doctor Occult of Earth-2, Shazam of Earth-S, Margo the Magician of Earth-X, and Yarko the Great of Earth-4, who each contribute their knowledge and experience to the curriculum. Most of the Earth-1 students are members of the magically inclined offshoot of the human race known as the Homo Magi. [“Secret Origins: The Books of Magic: Times Past, 1951: Founding Fathers”]

Captain Comet and Prof. Emery Zackro travel to the world of Thule in the asteroid belt to investigate a distress signal from Dr. Harkovy, a space pioneer who disappeared in 1937. There they discover that Harkovy's daughter Doriana survives, having been adopted by Thule's King Afthors, and they bring her back home to Earth. [“The World of Flying Men,” Strange Adventures #18 (March, 1952).]

February, 1952

February 6: Upon the death of King George VI, his daughter becomes Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

May, 1952

Captain Comet meets the Guardians of the Clockwork Universe and their leader Nestro, who tells him that Radea of Hyperba is acting as their champion. Captain Comet rescues Radea on the planet Lukan, where she was sent to stop the Lukans from moving their planet closer to its sun in order to conquer the planets there. [“The Guardians of the Clockwork Universe,” Strange Adventures #22 (July, 1952).]

Mikron O'Jeneus born, middle child of three. [Gizmo's Tale]

June, 1952

On the planet Krypton, Daxamite space explorer Lar Gand crash-lands on Krypton and meets Jor-El and Lara, who befriend him. After several weeks, Jor-El repairs his rocket ship, then sends Lar Gand away just five days before Krypton's destruction. Lar Gand is put into suspended animation for the next 11 years and does not age during that time. (Kryptonian date: 34 Ogtal, 10,000) [“Superboy's Big Brother,” Superboy #89 (June, 1961); World of Krypton #3 (September, 1979)]

June 17: Kal-El's rocket-ship is drawn through a space-warp into another universe, where he lands on a stone age planet and is adopted by Krya and her husband Thol. Growing up without super-powers, the child named Sonn emits a strange radiation that causes rapid evolution, propelling the world through several thousand years of civilization in one human lifetime. Sonn grows up to marry a woman named Lasil, and they have a son named Vol. Sonn is eventually elected the president of his nation, but when his sister Ruoa (daughter of Krya and Thol) unleashes a radiation that spreads evil over the entire planet, an atomic war breaks out, and the 60-year-old Sonn becomes a fugitive for the next 40 years. Finally, his son Vol, a scientist immune to the evil radiation, saves the world by placing his now-elderly father Sonn into a rejuvenation booth that both transforms Sonn into a baby and reverts the people of this world back into cavemen. Before he himself reverts to primitivism, Vol sends his infant father in his Kryptonian rocket-ship back on its original course, taking it back out through the space-warp into the Earth-1 universe, where only two hours have passed. Kal-El's ship continues on its way to Earth. [“100 Years: Lost, Strayed, or Stolen,” Action Comics #370 (December, 1968)]

June 18: Kal-El lands on Earth and is found by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who bring Kal-El to Smallville Orphanage.

June 25: The Kents adopt Kal-El and name him Clark.

July, 1952

The Phantom Stranger's public cases begin. Note: The Phantom Stranger has been active long before this time. [The Phantom Stranger #1]

August, 1952

Alien invaders from the planet Cathor use a somno-ray to cause the entire population of Earth to sleep for 24 hours. Only Captain Comet remains awake to stop the invasion. The next day, the world realizes it has lost a full day, while everyone but Adam Blake has marks on their foreheads. [“The Day That Vanished,” Strange Adventures #25 (October, 1952).]

September, 1952

Miss Universe, a human-looking plant-like alien with abilities similar to Captain Comet's, is plucked from the year 100,000 A.D. by a time machine and briefly becomes a super-heroine until Captain Comet sends her back to her own time to save her life. [“Captain Comet Vs. Miss Universe,” Strange Adventures #26 (November, 1952).]

October, 1952

An alien scientist disguised as a human named Zdrin clones Captain Comet, then sends Captain Comet and his evil clone to the Planet of Death to remove any resistance to invasion. The real Captain Comet defeats his opponent, who dies on the planet, and returns to Earth, where he sends Zdrin away from Earth. [“The Counterfeit Captain Comet,” Strange Adventures #27 (December, 1952).]

1953

Unspecified month in 1953

Pamela Isley is born.

Tony Gordon is born in Gotham City, the son of James W. Gordon and Thelma Gordon.

James Watson and Francis Crick discover DNA.

January, 1953

January 20: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as president of the United States.

March, 1953

Captain Comet's mind is briefly exchanged with a super-ape with mental powers nicknamed Man-Ape the Mighty, who comes from a highly advanced, secret population of gorillas in Africa. Captain Comet outwits the super-ape, who is imprisoned in a zoo. Note: It is probable that Man-Ape is either Grodd or another member of the population of Gorilla City. [“The Challenge of Man-Ape the Mighty,” Strange Adventures #32 (May, 1953).]

March 5: Josef Stalin dies.

March 6: Georgi Malenkov becomes Soviet premier.

April, 1953

April 10: Dag Hammarskjöld begins term as secretary-general of the United Nations.

May, 1953

After Captain Comet sets a world free from the mental control of its dictator, Tiger-Man, he brings a woman named Rana to visit Earth, where she becomes a new library assistant. Note: Captain Comet presumably returns Rana to her home planet sometime later. [“The Lady or the Tiger-Man,” Strange Adventures #34 (July, 1953).]

May 10: John Constantine born to Thomas and Mary-Anne Constantine. Note: John Constantine is the grandson of Johnny Constantine of the Sentinels of Magic.

May 29: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach the top of Mt. Everest.

June, 1953

Captain Comet is summoned by the Guardians of the Clockwork Universe, who inform him that he must attend a cosmic chess match on Pluto as Earth's representative. Pygr-Gar, the great Plutonian chessmaster, instead betrays the chess players (each of whom has developed telepathy) in order to tap their brain power to create a great brain that can control living super-robots to conquer the solar system. Captain Comet defeats Pygr-Gar and delivers him to the Plutonian justice system. [“The Cosmic Chessboard,” Strange Adventures #35 (August, 1953).]

June 18: Egypt becomes a military-ruled republic.

June 19: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are executed at Sing Sing prison.

July, 1953

July 27: The Korean War ends with the signing of an armistice.

August, 1953

August 20: The Soviet Union announces the explosion of a hydrogen bomb.

October, 1953

After Man-Ape the Mighty escapes prison during his trial and embarks on a series of crimes, Captain Comet tracks him down and captures him and his gang of human criminals. [“The Guilty Gorilla,” Strange Adventures #39 (December, 1953).]

October 31: Captain Comet participates in a live-action television reenactment of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast by Orson Wells in 1938. He battles a small group of real Martians who have used this opportunity to invade Earth. [“Lights, Camera, Invasion,” Strange Adventures #31 (April, 1953).]

1954

Unspecified month in 1954

Jefferson Pierce (the future Olympic athlete and super-hero Black Lightning) is born in Metropolis.

March, 1954

March 1: Puerto Rican nationalists shoot five U.S. congressmen on the floor of the House of Congress; all five recover.

March 23: The Soviet Union grants sovereignty to East Germany.

April, 1954

April 24: J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, is accidentally brought to Earth from Mars by the transportation machine of Dr. Erdel, who dies of heart failure soon afterward. Taking on the human name of John Jones, the Martian explores the world and learns all he can about what it means to be human. Note: Justice League of America #71, taking place in August, 1978, reveals that J'onn J'onzz was teleported to Earth shortly after a 13-year exile began. If this refers to Earth years, then J'onn would have arrived on Earth in 1966 during the first year of his exile, but since Martian years are 1.88 of Earth years, 13 Martian years would be 24.44 Earth years, making J'onn's arrival in early 1954. [“The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel,” Detective Comics #225 (November, 1955)]

May, 1954

May 7: Dien Bien Phu, the French military outpost in Vietnam, falls under control of the Vietminh army.

May 17: The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously bans racial segregation in public schools.

June, 1954

June 17: The Army v. McCarthy inquiry ends, with the Senate subcommittee report blaming both sides.

August, 1954

In Captain Comet's last recorded case before he leaves Earth for outer space, he discovers that a living computer at Midwest City University has built a cobalt bomb in order to destroy aliens planning to invade Earth from a base in the desert. He defeats them with the threat of water, since their alien bodies are water-soluble. [“The Revolt of the Thinking Machine,” Strange Adventures #49 (October, 1954).]

September, 1954

The Szerro family moves to the U.S. from Poland.

September 23: Barbara Gordon is born in Gotham City, the daughter of James W. Gordon and Thelma Gordon.

November, 1954

November 29: James Bartholomew (Jimmy) Olsen is born in Mapleton, the son of Prof. Mark Olsen and Sarah Olsen.

1955

Unspecified month in 1955

Cory Renwald, now a 25-year-old CIA agent, is assigned to pose as a Soviet defector and emigrates to the Soviet Union to act as a double agent. [“Zero Hour for the Kents,” The New Adventures of Superboy #19 (July, 1981)]

January, 1955

Slam Bradley, private investigator, has his first public case alongside his partner, Shorty. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Detective Comics #1]

Linda Olsen Asherman, descendent of Alex and Linda Olsen, is born.

Fred Farrell graduates from the Firemen's Training School in Center City and becomes Fireman Farrell. [Showcase #1]

February, 1955

February 8: Nikolai Bulganin replaces Malenkov as Soviet premier.

May, 1955

May 6: The Western European Union (WEU) is formed.

May 14: The Warsaw Pact, an Eastern European mutual defense agreement, is signed.

September, 1955

Under the name John Jones, J'onn J'onzz joins the Middletown Police Department, using his Martian super-powers in secret to aid his efforts to fight crime as a Manhunter from Mars. Note: It is probable that J'onn's efforts to become a police detective actually take months to accomplish, including going through police academy and spending time as a patrolman before being promoted to detective. [“The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel,” Detective Comics #225 (November, 1955)]

September 19: Argentina ousts Juan Domingo Perón as president.

December, 1955

December 1: After Rosa Parks refuses to sit at the back of the bus, Martin Luther King, Jr., leads a black boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama.

1956

February, 1956

May, 1956

A film director turned criminal named Leif Conrad recreates his greatest roles from years ago as masked villains the Mad Maestro, the Black Knight, and the Phantom of the City, until he is caught by the police manhunters. [“The Greatest Villain of All Time,” Showcase #5]

May 21: The U.S. tests the first aerial H-bomb at Bikini Atoll, causing an explosion equivalent to 10 million tons of TNT.

June, 1956

June 28-30: A workers' uprising against Communism in Poland is crushed.

July, 1956

July 26: Egypt takes over the Suez Canal.

October, 1956

October 17: John Stewart, future Green Lantern, is born in Detroit.

October 23: Hungarian students stage a protest against Communism in Budapest, forcing Soviet troops to withdraw.

November, 1956

November 5: British and French troops invade Port Said on the Suez Canal.

November 6: The U.S. forces a cease-fire at the Suez Canal, stopping the advance of the British, French, and Israelis.

November 25: While running on the grounds of Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne falls through a hole into a huge cave filled with bats, terrifying him. Later that day, Bruce and his father, Dr. Thomas Wayne, are saved by the Shadow (in his last known appearance before the 1970s), when robber Willy Stamper threatens their lives during a bank robbery. Note: The date of November 25th comes from Superboy #182, which erroneously uses that date as the date when Joe Chill kills Bruce Wayne's parents; since we know from Batman Special #1 that the real date is June 26th, the date of November 25th must signify similar significant events. [“The Night of the Shadow,” Batman #259 (November-December, 1974).]

1957

January, 1957

January 5: The Eisenhower Doctrine calls for aid to Middle East countries that resist armed aggression from Communist-controlled nations.

September, 1957

September 24: The Little Rock Nine integrate an Arkansas high school, and President Eisenhower sends troops to quell the mob and protect the school's integration.

October, 1957

Jonathan Sebastian Double is born.

October 4: The Space Age begins as the Russians launch Sputnik I, the first Earth-orbiting satellite.

January, 1958

January 31: The U.S. Army's Jupiter-C rocket fires the first American satellite, Explorer I, into orbit.

February, 1958

February 1: Egypt and Syria merge into the United Arab Republic.

March, 1958

James Bond, alias British secret agent 007, battles Doctor No. Note: This issue, a reprint of Classics Illustrated #158a, published in England, is based on the novel Dr. No by Ian Fleming, which was published in March, 1958. [“Doctor No,” Showcase #43]

March 27: Nikita Khrushchev becomes premier of the Soviet Union upon the resignation of Bulganin.

June, 1958

June 1: Gen. Charles de Gaulle becomes the premier of France, remaining in power until 1969.

June 12: Superboy's first costumed foe is the Flame, a man carrying a flame-thrower and dressed in an asbestos suit. [World's Finest Comics #65]

June 26

Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered before eight-year-old Bruce Wayne's eyes. Bruce makes a vow to wage war upon all criminals from then on, beginning his training to develop the skills he will need to fight crime. Over the next 11 years, Bruce both trains himself and travels the world to seek out various teachers to master the skills he would need for his future war against criminals, a practice he even continues into his early days as the Batman. Superboy is away from Earth on a mission at this time. Note: The date of June 26, 1958 comes from Batman Special #1, which places the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne 25 years before 1983. [“The Player on the Other Side,” Batman Special #1 (1984); “The Forging of Young Batman,” Superboy #182 (February, 1972)]

The criminal parents of the future Wrath are allegedly killed by police officer James W. Gordon. The future Wrath vows to wage war upon all lawmen. [“The Player on the Other Side,” Batman Special #1 (1984)]

June 27: The day after his parents' murder, Bruce Wayne returns to the scene of the crime and overhears reporter Otis Higbee of the Gotham Gazette speak of supposed evidence linking the Zodiac Killer to the murder. Note: The deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne are placed on November 25 in this story, but this date is impossible, as the true date is specifically in the summer, and Batman Special #1 states that the true date is June 26. It is possible that November 25 refers to another important event in Bruce Wayne's life. [“The Forging of Young Batman,” Superboy #182 (February, 1972)]

June 28: Philip Wayne is appointed Bruce Wayne's legal guardian. Since Philip travels quite a bit on business trips, Bruce is primarily raised by his uncle's housekeeper, Mrs. Chilton, who, unknown to him, is the mother of Joe Chill. [“The Women in Batman's Life,” Batman #208 (January-February, 1969); “In the Beginning,” The Untold Legend of the Batman #1 (July, 1980)]

September, 1958

Superboy is revealed to be an extraterrestrial by Perry White. [New Adventures of Superboy #12]

Superboy time travels to the year 1937 to help the 21-year-old Perry White get a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet, whose managing editor at this time is Mr. Hobb. Note: Although time travel is not mentioned in this story as it is published, time travel is the only explanation for Perry being 21 years old in this story despite being decades older than Clark Kent. [“Perry White, Cub Reporter,” Adventure Comics #120]

Bruce Wayne joins the Sea Scouts, having been given an exception despite being below the minimum age of 13, and spends the next few months making himself an expert in all the skills that the Sea Scouts teach (including sewing) before finally quitting by the next summer to move on to more advanced training. [“The Origin of Robin,” Batman #213 (July-August, 1969)]

September 22: Kara Zor-El is born on Argo City, the daughter of Zor-El and Allura.

December, 1958

Colonel Rick Flag (a USAF test pilot), Karin Grace (a flight nurse and space medicine specialist), Dr. Hugh Evans (an astrophysicist), and Jess Bright (a nuclear physicist) form Task Force X, known by the public as the Suicide Squad. In its first mission, the Suicide Squad stops the mysterious threat of the three waves of doom, a flaming mass containing an unknown, monstrous, dragon-like menace that adapts against every force used against it. The only way the Suicide Squad is able to defeat the monster is to use a secret unmanned (but well-stocked) rocket to lure it into space, where they finally eject it near the Sun, leaving the team stranded in space for a few months. The Suicide Squad operates for nearly 24 years off and on before being finally disbanded by the U.S. government in 1983. Note: This story takes place in winter several months before the published date. [“The Three Waves of Doom,” The Brave and the Bold #25 (August-September, 1959).]

1959

Unspecified month in 1959

Alaska and Hawaii become U.S. states.

January, 1959

January 1: Fidel Castro takes over Cuba after President Batista resigns and flees the country.

March, 1959

Over the course of a few months, the Suicide Squad (traveling in space after reaching the Sun) manages against great odds to pilot the rocket back to Earth, in the process being exposed to radiation that causes them to shrink to about an inch tall. Landing in a lake in an unknown country, the Suicide Squad discovers a plan by an enemy nation (most likely the Soviet Union) to attack the United States using atomic-warhead-equipped submarines; the team, still at small size, sabotages the entire fleet before returning to normal size and escaping to America. [“The Sun Curse,” The Brave and the Bold #26 (October-November, 1959).]

March 31: On the 70th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower's completion, the Suicide Squad is in Paris on furlough. There, they encounter a prehistoric serpentine monster that attacks Paris, which the team manages to defeat by suffocating it by placing a huge plastic bag over its head. Note: The members of the Suicide Squad have already become famous thanks to their saving the world from the three waves of doom in issue #25. [“Serpent in the Subway,” The Brave and the Bold #26 (October-November, 1959).]

April, 1959

Rip Hunter, Time Master, begins his ongoing adventures alongside his team – Jeff Smith, Bonnie Baxter, and young Corky Baxter – traveling through time in a Time Sphere of his own invention. [Showcase #20]

June, 1959

Patrick “Eel” O'Brian, a petty criminal, becomes the heroic Plastic Man. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. The last issue of Plastic Man (#52) featuring a new story with Plastic Man takes place in 1972, according to Earth-1's compressed timeline, since 1972 corresponds to 1954; therefore, if Plastic Man's adventures occurred over the same time span of 13 years on Earth-1, his debut year of 1941 corresponds to 1959. Accordingly, the other golden age heroes of Earth-1 – the Vigilante, Air Wave, the Manhunter, the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion, Robotman, TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite – are similarly adjusted. It is fitting that Earth-1's golden agers debuted after Superboy and not before. [Police Comics #1]

The nine-year-old Bruce Wayne seeks out Harvey Harris, the greatest private detective alive at this time, to teach him all he can about solving crimes. In order to keep his identity a secret, Bruce sews a medieval-inspired red and green costume and wears a small black mask. After Bruce convinces Harris to take him on as his protege, Harris gives the boy the nickname of Robin. Bruce spends much of this summer being trained by Harris while his guardian (Philip Wayne) is traveling abroad. Note: This story claims that Bruce was a teenager when he met Harvey Harris and became the original Robin, and that his parents were still alive at the time, but this is incorrect. The Untold Legend of Batman #1 clarifies that Bruce instead met Harris nearly a year after his parents' deaths. [“When Batman was Robin,” Detective Comics #226 (December, 1955)]

September, 1959

Greg Sanders becomes the Vigilante; Stuff, the Chinatown Kid, becomes his partner. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Action Comics #42]

November, 1959

The Suicide Squad battles a gigantic creature that appears to be a transformed scientist named Prof. Duane, who had successfully created a growth formula. The team saves a major U.S. city from both the monster and nuclear annihilation. Note: Sometime after this story, Task Force X is disbanded for an unrevealed reason, as shown in issue #37, for about a year and a half. [“The Creature of Ghost Lake,” The Brave and the Bold #27 (December, 1959-January, 1960).]

December, 1959

Brooklyn-based Assistant District Attorney Larry Jordan becomes Air Wave to save District Attorney Cole from Snake Scalotti's gang. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Detective Comics #60]

1960

Unspecified month in 1960

Communist China and the Soviet Union split over conflicts in Communist ideology.

There are 900 U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam.

Abigail Arcane is born.

January, 1960

February, 1960

Paul Kirk becomes the Manhunter. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Adventure Comics #73]

Police officer Jim Harper becomes the Guardian and is appointed the legal guardian of the members of the Newsboy Legion. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Star Spangled Comics #7]

Dr. Robert Crane becomes Robotman. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Star Spangled Comics #7]

Thomas N. Thomas becomes TNT, while Daniel Dunbar becomes Dan the Dyna-Mite. Note: This is the Earth-1 version of the Earth-2 character of the same name, whose adventures are virtually identical, except that they occur 18 years later. [Star Spangled Comics #7]

April, 1960

Air Wave adopts as his sidekick a parrot he calls Static. [Detective Comics #64]

April 17: Clark Kent decides to become a reporter when he grows up; Perry White becomes a part-time editor. [Adventure Comics #152]

May, 1960

Air Wave battles Professor Gurn once more, who has donned a robotic suit to become Machine Man. [Detective Comics #65]

May 1: U.S. pilot Gary Powers, flying a U-2 spy plane, is shot down over Russia.

May 16: Khrushchev kills the Paris summit conference because of the U-2 spy plane.

May 20: Zatanna Zatara is born.

May 23: Israelis capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Argentina. Eichmann is later executed in Israel in 1962.

June, 1960

After District Attorney Cole is murdered, Larry Jordan (Air Wave) is at first framed for the murder by Grump (a legal clerk in Cole's office), but he clears his name as Air Wave. The mayor appoints Jordan as the acting district attorney for Brooklyn until the next election. [Detective Comics #66]

June 11: On the second anniversary of Superboy's debut, Smallville celebrates Superboy Day for the first time, which becomes an annual tradition even years after Superboy becomes Superman. Note: It's possible that Superboy Day is celebrated on the second Saturday of each June (as June 11 is in 1960) rather than on June 11th itself, which often falls on a weekday. [“The Stunts of Superboy,” Superboy #2]

July, 1960

Spelunker Cave Carson uses his tunnelling machine, the Mighty Mole, and friends to solve a mystery. [The Brave and the Bold #31]

August, 1960

Clark Kent first meets Lois Lane while both are in Metropolis working for the Daily Planet while representing their school newspapers. Note: The editor of the Daily Planet at this time is a man named Morton, although it is possible that he is a subordinate of George Taylor, the managing editor. [Adventure Comics #128]

August 7: Castro's Cuba begins confiscating $770 million of U.S. property in the country.

August 19: U.S. pilot Gary Powers is sentenced to prison as a spy in the Soviet Union for 10 years. Powers is later freed in exchange for a Soviet spy in 1962.

November, 1960

Cave Carson and his team track three powerful robots underground. [The Brave and the Bold #33]

1961

Unspecified month in 1961

Harvey Dent's girlfriend finds out she's pregnant and he's the father. His parents, enraged that this will interfere with their son's big college plans, pay the girl off to go and have an abortion. They do not want a scandal. She leaves town with the money, but can't go through with the process. Later in the year, she gives birth but leaves the child at an orphange. The name listed on the birth certificate is Duela Dent. [TW: Buzz Buzz]

There are 2,000 U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam.

January, 1961

January 3: The U.S. breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba.

January 20: John F. Kennedy is inaugurated as president of the United States.

April, 1961

April 12: The Soviet Union announces that they've put the first man in orbit around Earth, cosmonaut Major Yuri Gagarin.

April 17: The U.S. aids about 1,200 anti-Castro exiles in the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, but the invasion is crushed.

May, 1961

May 5: Alan Shepard officially becomes the first American man to go into orbit around Earth.

June, 1961

TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite have their last case. [Star Spangled Comics #23]

After Karin Grace is compelled by some unknown force to create several paintings depicting a ruined world overrun with dinosaurs, Gen. Brent reunites the Suicide Squad on a top-secret mission to discover the answer behind it. Karin temporarily gains extra-sensory perception (ESP) abilities, allowing her to transport the team to the parallel world populated by intelligent dinosaurs who plan to invade Earth-1. There, they defeat the powerful mind behind the invasion and return to their world, where Karin loses her ESP abilities. Note: The Suicide Squad has been disbanded for several months by the time of this story. [“Raid of the Dinosaurs,” The Brave and the Bold #37 (August-September, 1961).]

July, 1961

Test pilot Martin Harold Jordan dies during a test flight for Ferris Aircraft, leaving behind his widowed wife, Jessica Elizabeth Jordan, and three sons, Jack Jordan, Hal Jordan, and Jim Jordan. Larry Jordan (Air Wave), learning about his brother's death during a vacation on a ranch in Colorado, flies out to Coast City for the funeral.

Around this time, J'onn J'onzz abandons his Detective John Jones identity and takes up a few other identities to explore humanity over the next decade.

July 21: Virgil Grissom becomes the second American astronaut.

August, 1961

August 13: East Germany erects the Berlin Wall, separating East and West Berlin, to halt the flood of East German refugees.

September, 1961

The Suicide Squad battles a gigantic, green-skinned, lizard-like, humanoid alien who uses giant pterodactyls to retrieve objects from the surface of the Earth. Leaving behind a nuclear time-bomb in their plane, they escape from the gigantic alien spaceship minutes before it explodes, utterly destroying the alien and his pterodactyls. [“Master of the Dinosaurs,” The Brave and the Bold #38 (October-November, 1961).]

The Suicide Squad battles the Mirage Master of the M-Dimension, who seeks to outwit them but fails, returning as agreed to his dimension. [“Menace of the Mirage People,” The Brave and the Bold #38 (October-November, 1961).]

October, 1961

October 29: The Soviet Union fires a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb, the biggest explosion in history.

November, 1961

The Suicide Squad has its last public mission bringing in Sneeko, czar of the international underworld. [“Rain of Fire,” The Brave and the Bold #39 (December, 1961-January, 1962).]

November 11: Dick Grayson is born to John and Mary Grayson.

1962

February, 1962

Karen Beecher is born.

February 20: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit Earth, orbiting three times in nearly five hours.

March, 1962

April, 1962

Paul Kirk has his last case as Manhunter. Note: Sometime after this story, Paul Kirk is killed and then cloned by the Council. [Adventure Comics #92]

May, 1962

Dr. Morton Kirk, believing that Earth will be struck by a giant planet, sends his young son Johnny off in a rocket. Superboy saves the Earth but is unable to find Johnny; the dying Dr. Kirk makes him swear to become his legal guardian if he ever finds him. [Action Comics #232]

Mal Duncan is born.

May 16: Lana Lang briefly gains super-powers once more on her 12th birthday. [Superboy #64]

May 28: Superboy meets Master Mxyzptlk, a teenaged magical imp from the fifth dimensional land of Zrfff whose father and mother are Fuzastl and Tlndsa. [Superboy #78]

July, 1962

Superboy becomes a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes of the 30th century. [Adventure Comics #247]

August, 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis begins when the Soviets begin building missile bases in Cuba, and President Kennedy orders a Cuban blockade.

September, 1962

September 24: Superboy meets Lex Luthor (for the first time since they were toddlers), and the two become friends. Note: Although the 1976 Super DC Calendar places this event on March 24, this story clearly places Superboy's first meeting with Luthor in the fall. [Adventure Comics #271]

October, 1962

James Meredith, escorted by U.S. marshals, becomes the first black student to register at the University of Mississippi.

October 7-8: Prof. Dalton creates the first Bizarro-Superboy, which is destroyed the next day. [Superboy #68]

October 27: A lab accident makes Luthor lose his hair, and he blames it on Superboy, vowing to be his enemy from now on. Note: Although the 1976 Super DC Calendar places this event on August 27, this story clearly places it in the fall some weeks (rather than months) after their first meeting. [Adventure Comics #271]

November, 1962

The Cuban Missile Crisis ends when the Soviets back down, and Kennedy lifts the Cuban blockade.

November 1: Roy Harper is born.

December, 1962

December 24: Cuba releases 1,113 prisoners captured during the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

1963

Unspecified month in 1963

There are 15,000 U.S. military advisers in South Vietnam.

Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique, a book largely responsible for sparking second-wave feminism in the United States.

January, 1963

January 22: France and West Germany sign a treaty of cooperation, ending four centuries of infrequent conflict.

February, 1963

Hank Hall is born.

A chimpanzee named Bravo becomes the Blackhawks' mascot. [Blackhawk #183]

March, 1963

March 6: Garth (Aqualad) is born.

April, 1963

April 14: Superboy learns he cannot change history when, on a time-travel trip to the year 1863 to prevent President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, he encounters the adult Lex Luthor who unwittingly prevents him from action. [Superboy #85]

April 16: Superboy discovers Jor-El's Phantom Zone projector and is almost trapped there forever when he is tricked into using it by the Kryptonian criminals trapped there with him. [Adventure Comics #283]

April 20: Lar Gand of Daxam arrives on Earth as an amnesiac and is dubbed Mon-El, but after his memory returns he gets lead poisoning and must be put into the Phantom Zone for 1000 years. [Superboy #89]

April 26: Donna Hinckley (the future Donna Troy, alias Wonder Girl) is born to a 19-year-old single mother named Dorothy Hinckley in Newport News, Virginia. Although the identity of her father has never been confirmed, there are hints that Donna's father may somehow be Prince Theno, the long-lost love of Queen Hippolyta who was lost at sea many centuries ago. [“Who Is Donna Troy?” The New Teen Titans #38 (January, 1984); “Wonder Girl's Mysterious Father,” Wonder Woman #152 (February, 1965)]

April 29: Pete Ross learns Clark Kent is Superboy while on a camping trip. [Superboy #90]

May, 1963

Superboy meets Lori Lemaris, but the memory of their meeting is erased from their minds by her father. [Adventure Comics #280]

May 12: The teenaged Lex Luthor attempts to kill Superboy for the first time with his kryptonite constructs but is stopped by members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. [Superboy #86]

June, 1963

Lex Luthor is arrested for the first time and sent to Soames Reform School. [Superboy #92]

Superboy meets Robin the Boy Wonder, who has traveled from the year 1974 to save his life. Together, the two capture Lex Luthor, who leads the Bandit Gang. [Adventure Comics #253]

July, 1963

Not long afterward, Lex Luthor spoils the Superboy Science Fair and is sent to prison for the first time. [Adventure Comics #292]

August, 1963

Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Dorothy Hinckley places her four-month-old daughter Donna Hinckley in Willowbrook Orphanage in Newport News, Virginia, run by Elmira Cassiday. Carl and Fay Stacey adopt the girl as their own and raise her as Donna Stacey for the next two years. [“Who Is Donna Troy?” The New Teen Titans #38 (January, 1984)]

August 28: Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his “I have a dream” speech in Washington, D.C., during a civil rights rally attended by a crowd of 200,000.

August 30: A hot line between Washington and Moscow is set up, designed to reduce the risk of accidental war.

September, 1963

Clark Kent meets Bruce Wayne in earnest when Bruce moves to Smallville with his foster parents, his uncle and aunt, Dr. Philip Wayne and his wife. With Lana Lang's help, Bruce becomes the Flying Fox by donning a witch doctor's costume over a suit. After Bruce discovers that Superboy is Clark Kent, he has Superboy use hypnotism to erase that knowledge from his memory. Note: Bruce remains in Smallville until the end of semester this year, when he returns to Gotham City. [“The Origin of the Superman-Batman Team,” Adventure Comics #275]

November, 1963

November 22: President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Both Superboy and the Blackhawks regret that they were not there to prevent it. President Kennedy is succeeded by Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson.

November 24: Harvey Lee Oswald, the accused assassin of President Kennedy, is shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner.

December, 1963

Lilith is born, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Will Clay of Kentucky.

1964

Unspecified month in 1964

Joe Wilson is born to Slade and Adeline Wilson.

Jan Danvers, son of Fred and Edna Danvers, is killed on Chu-Li Island off the coast of Vietnam. Note: Originally Jan was killed in the Korean War, but the Vietnam War works best in the compressed timeline. [“Supergirl's Big Brother,” Action Comics #303 (August, 1963)]

Superboy learns that Jonathan and Martha Kent once had another super-powered foster son before him named Tim Tates. Meeting him in the present and discovering he is a super-villain named Mighto of the planet Ulgar, he manages to defeat him by taking away his super-powers with his only weakness: special ultrasonic musical notes. [“The Kents' First Super-Son,” Superboy #108 (October, 1963).]

The Warren Commission concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President Kennedy.

January, 1964

January 16: Wally West is born.

February, 1964

February 9: The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, launching Beatlemania and the so-called “British Invasion” of pop music in the United States.

April, 1964

The Blackhawks take on new, red-and-green uniforms as well as a new affiliation with a secret government agency. [Blackhawk #197]

May, 1964

Landing in a strange valley when his plane explodes, archeologist and explorer Cliff Battles saves the life of an Indian elder named Zantec, only to be exiled because his plane crashed and destroyed a sacred place. Battles is sent to choose between two dangerous paths out of the valley, and Zantec gives him a golden belt with a jaguar emblem that will give him the ability to take both paths at once as long as he uses it before sundown. Reaching the fork between two trails, Battles uses the belt by facing west and covering the jaguar's eyes, which splits him into two identical copies of himself, one glowing red and the other blue. Discovering he has the ability to recall memories of his other self, Battles manages to survive various perils in both bodies until sundown, when they rejoin just in time to avoid certain death while still split in two, and exit the valley as one man. [“I Lived in Two Bodies,” Strange Adventures #166 (July, 1964)]

Superboy meets Kid Psycho from the 30th century. [Superboy #125]

May 1: Don Hall is born.

May 16: Lana Lang becomes Insect Queen. [Superboy #124]

June, 1964

Three civil rights workers in Mississippi are murdered by members of the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan, sparking national outrage and a massive federal investigation.

June 11: In South Africa, Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life imprisonment.

July, 1964

July 8: Jonathan and Martha Kent made younger by an elixir from another dimension. [Superboy #145]

August, 1964

While at Camp Smallville 11-year-old Barbara Gordon is briefly imbued by magic to become Mighty Girl until Superboy deduces her power source and takes it away. Barbara vows to become a superhero someday. [Adventure Comics #453]

Cave Carson and his team encounter an energy creature in Xanadu. [Showcase #52]

August 2-7: The Gulf of Tonkin incident sparks the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which enables President Lyndon B. Johnson to increase U.S. troops in Vietnam and begin open warfare against North Vietnam.

October, 1964

Superboy meets the original Air Wave. Note: Superboy is 14 at the time of this story. This story takes place between Air Wave's stories in Detective Comics #117 and #118, as indicated by the fact that in this story Air Wave's costume is damaged where his insignia is, and Air Wave dons a costume with a new and slightly different insignia in Detective Comics #118, which takes place shortly after this story. [DC Comics Presents #55].

November, 1964

The Guardian retires as he and the Newsboy Legion have their last case. Note: Sometime after this story, the members of the Newsboy Legion go to college and have families of their own, and the Guardian is killed. [Star Spangled Comics #64]

1965

Unspecified month in 1965

Betty Kane is born.

Katar Hol of Thanagar becomes a Hawkman and battles the evil Man-Hawks. [The Brave and the Bold #43]

Frances Kane is born.

Victor Stone is born to Silan and Elinore Stone.

John Gnarrk's fake birthday is this year; in reality, he was born many thousands of years ago.

Dorothy Hinckley, mother of Donna Troy, dies of cancer at age 21. [“Who Is Donna Troy?” The New Teen Titans #38 (January, 1984)]

February, 1965

February 1: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and more than 2,600 blacks are arrested in Selma, Alabama, during three-day demonstrations against voter-registration rules that unfairly exclude blacks from voting.

February 21: Black-nationalist leader Malcolm X is shot to death at a rally in Harlem, New York City.

March, 1965

March 22-23: After spending an all-night vigil at Aphrodite's altar on Paradise Island, 15-year-old Princess Diana is given her bracelets of submission to Aphrodite by her mother Queen Hippolyta that signal she is a full Amazon. [“The Golden Age Secret Origin of Wonder Woman,” Wonder Woman #159 (January, 1966); “The Secret Origin of Wonder Woman,” DC Special Series #19 (Fall, 1979)]

April, 1965

April 17: The largest anti-war demonstration in the U.S. to date, the March Against the Vietnam War, is held in Washington, D.C., with 15,000 to 20,000 people attending.

After Carl Stacey's accidental death at his workplace, Fay Stacey is left destitute after the funeral and forced to raise her two-year-old adopted daughter Donna Stacey (formerly Donna Hickley) alone. She is soon visited by William Harrison, the corrupt attorney for Willowbrook Orphanage, who convinces her that she must return Donna to county care, or she will be taken away from her if she's bankrupt. Fay reluctantly agrees after being promised that Donna will go to a good home with loving parents. Instead, Harrison sells Donna to a child trafficking ring he's been working with for years. Donna Stacey is placed with an abusive couple posing as her adoptive parents, using a supposedly empty and non-rented room in a tenement building in New York City to sell children to ensure it cannot be traced to their names; the room is provided to them for cash under the table by Sam Channing, who keeps it a secret from his wife, the building's landlady. Meanwhile, Fay Stacey returns to school and later marries a man named Hank Evans, with whom she starts a new family, but is too embarrassed to tell him how she was tricked into giving up her adoptive daughter. [“Who Is Donna Troy?” The New Teen Titans #38 (January, 1984)]

April 26: While watching scenes of Man's World on the Magic Sphere, 15-year-old Princess Diana sees that a two-year-old girl is about to be killed in a tenement fire in New York City, so she uses the Time and Space Transformer to briefly switch places in time with her future grown-up self from 1972. As Wonder Woman, she travels to the building in New York with her invisible robot plane and saves little Donna (Donna Hinckley Stacey) from the fire, although she's too late to save the lives of the man and woman with her, which she wrongly assumes to have been her parents. Discovering that the child's identity is untraceable, since the landlady Mrs. Channing says the room Donna was found in wasn't rented, Wonder Woman brings her back to Paradise Island before transforming back into a teenager. Since her past and true family are also clouded from being traced via the Magic Sphere, Donna is adopted as Queen Hippolyta's daughter and Princess Diana's sister and is raised as an Amazon, though she lacks their powers for most of her childhood. Some years later, Wonder Woman becomes Donna's legal guardian. Note: The Time and Space Transformer is used in a similar way in “Wonder Tot and the Flying Saucer,” Wonder Woman #132 (August, 1962) and was originally invented when Princess Diana was a teenager, as seen in “Wonder Girl Meets Wonder Woman,” Wonder Woman #117 (October, 1960). Donna cannot have been saved from a fire as a toddler during Wonder Woman's actual career, since Diana didn't become Wonder Woman until 1972, by which time Donna was already nine years old and living on Paradise Island; thus, the only way Wonder Woman could have rescued a two-year-old Donna is through some kind of time travel. The Magic Sphere should have theoretically traced Donna's earlier life, but since it apparently never did so, we speculate that it was somehow clouded from view, possibly by the gods who knew Donna would one day become Wonder Girl. Wonder Woman probably didn't apply to be Donna's legal guardian until sometime after her debut in 1972. [“The Origin of Wonder Girl,” Teen Titans #22 (July-August, 1969); “School of the Amazoids,” Adventure Comics #461 (January-February, 1979); “Who Is Donna Troy?” The New Teen Titans #38 (January, 1984)]

November, 1965

November 17: Mark and Sarah Olsen, Jimmy Olsen's parents, apparently die in a train bridge wreck that nearly-11-year-old Jimmy survives. However, unbeknownst to Jimmy, Mark Olsen survived but was swept downstream in the river and at first thought Jimmy had been killed, then was captured by the natives of the lost valley of Kukulcan in the Yucatan and held captive for years. Note: The date of November 17 comes from Jimmy Olsen #84 as an unexplained important date in Jimmy's life. [“The Mystery of Convict 313,” Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #75 (March, 1964); “No Father for Jimmy,” Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #128 (April, 1970)]

December, 1965

December 23: Dawn Granger is born.

1966

Unspecified month in 1966

Raven, spawn of Trigon, is born to Arella.

There are 250,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam.

January, 1966

January 19: Indira Gandhi is elected India's third prime minister.

February, 1966

June Moone becomes the Enchantress. [Strange Adventures #187]

February 3: The Soviets make the first unmanned landing on the Moon with the Luna 9.

March, 1966

March 25-26: A large, international anti-Vietnam war protest is held, with 20,000 to 25,000 protestors in New York City, along with others in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Oklahoma City, Ottawa, London, Oslo, Stockholm, Lyon, and Tokyo.

April, 1966

April 3: The Soviet-made Luna 10 becomes the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit.

April 8: Leonid Brezhnev becomes General Secretary and Leader of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union.

May, 1966

Buddy Baker becomes Animal-Man. [Strange Adventures #190]

After his last case as Air Wave, Larry Jordan semi-retires from crime fighting in order to concentrate on his career and personal life. Note: Larry meets and marries his wife Helen sometime after this story, only occasionally resuming his crime fighting career as Air Wave from time to time until his death in 1970. [Detective Comics #137]

Rachel Green, daughter of Jason Woodrue (while he visits from his dimension) and human woman Ida Green, is born in England; she later becomes Mayflower of the Force of July.

May 25: Charley Parker is born.

June, 1966

June 2: The first U.S. spacecraft to land on another world, Surveyor 1, lands on the Moon.

July, 1966

July 4: The Freedom of Information Act is signed by President Johnson, taking effect the next year.

August, 1966

Clark Kent learns of the existence of his foster brother Cory Renwald, who is now a double agent for the CIA, acting as a mole in the KGB, and assists him as Superboy. Jonathan and Martha Kent are pleased to learn that their influence helped turn the former juvenile delinquent into a government agent and hero. [“Zero Hour for the Kents,” The New Adventures of Superboy #19 (July, 1981)]

August 13: Chairman Mao Zedong launches the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China.

December, 1966

1967

Unspecified month in 1967

Princess Koriand'r is born to King Myand'r and Queen Luand'r, rulers of the planet Tamaran.

Kole Weathers is born to Abel and Marilyn Weathers.

Ronald Rockwell (later known as Ronnie Raymond, who becomes Firestorm as a teenager) is born to Edward and Elaine Rockwell.

January, 1967

The Blackhawks fail the test of a secret agency named G.E.O.R.G.E. in front of four super-heroes and the U.S. President, therefore they retire and then begin the “New Blackhawk Era”, donning super-hero names, powers and costumes as members of G.E.O.R.G.E. Blackhawk gains the code-name “the Big Eye”, Chuck becomes the Listener, Hendrickson the Weapons Master, Olaf the Leaper, Stanislaus the Golden Centurion, Andre becomes M'sieu Machine, and Chop-Chop becomes Dr. Hands. Note: This story must take place in the 1960s following previous issues, since Lady Blackhawk is still hypnotized and acting as Queen Killer Shark. The uncharacteristic New Era Blackhawks may not have been the real Blackhawks after all, but instead doubles (perhaps shape-changing Martians) who replaced the originals in an untold story, partially in order to drive the real Blackhawks into retirement. The presence of Superman, Batman, the Flash, and Green Lantern in this story is problematic but must be accounted for. It's possible that the roles these four play in the compressed Earth-1 timeline were held by four contemporary and prominent 1960s super-heroes such as Superboy, the Vigilante, Plastic Man, and Air Wave. It is also possible that the four JLAers were sent back through time magically by Felix Faust during the events of Justice League of America #49, which takes place in September, 1977; in this case, Superman would have been able to prove his identity to President Johnson and vouch for his three fellow super-heroes, then unknown to the world, since he was personally acquainted with the U.S. presidents ever since he first became Superboy. Presumably the magical transportation would not have displaced Superboy or the then-teenage Batman, Flash, and Green Lantern (Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, and Hal Jordan) like ordinary time-travel does. [Blackhawk #228-230]

January 27: Three Apollo astronauts, Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee, are killed during a simulated launch.

February, 1967

Superboy meets Takeo Sato, the Japanese actor who plays the movie hero Sunburst, and discovers that he has the character's powers for real and is using them as a super-villain. [New Adventures of Superboy #45]

B'wana Beast continues his quest to find Hamid Ali. [Showcase #67]

March, 1967

Superboy meets Zatara the Magician. [New Adventures of Superboy #49]

April, 1967

Animal-Man battles the Mod Gorilla Boss, which is much later revealed to be a publicity stunt, though Animal-Man didn't know this at the time. After this case, Buddy Baker puts his crime-fighting career as Animal-Man on hiatus in order to get married and start a family, appearing only seldom from this point on. Note: Animal-Man's next appearance establishes that the Mod Gorilla Boss was a publicity stunt that the hero is embarrassed about. [“The Mod Gorilla Boss,” Strange Adventures #201 (June, 1967)]

May, 1967

Superboy meets a very young Dick Grayson and Wally West [DCCP: Times of the Titans book 1]

June, 1967

Superboy discovers that his real parents, Jor-El and Lara, survived the destruction of Krypton through the help of a Kryptonian scientist called Dr. Krylo, who preserved them in suspended animation in a space capsule that has been in outer space since Krypton's destruction. Unfortunately, Superboy also learns that they cannot be revived without killing them, as they have severe anti-kryptonite poisoning, so he places them back into space once more. Later, Jonathan Kent uses Superboy's memory helmet to erase his memories of these events, and Superboy/Superman forgets for the next 21 years. Note: This story is set specifically 15 years after Krypton's destruction, placing it out of sequence with other stories in this series. [“Superboy's Darkest Secret,” Superboy #158 (July, 1969); “Superman: The Unkindest Cut”]

Bruce Wayne graduates from high school one year early. [Speculation based on the fact that Bruce graduates from university at age 20 in 1970.]

At an archeological dig in a remote area of Mexico, Cliff Battles discovers a stone Indian tablet that promises to reveal the location of ancient relics including a legendary head-band that supposedly gives its wearer fantastic powers. Before he can bring it to a museum to be translated, Battles is ambushed by bandits. Escaping from them, Battles uses Zantec's golden belt to split himself into two. One of his bodies acts as a decoy to draw the bandits away while the other takes the tablet to the museum. Unfortunately, the decoy is captured by the bandit leader El Grando, and the one with the tablet is ambushed outside the museum by bandits who steal the tablet. El Grando has the tablet translated and leaves to dig up the relics, while one Battles saves his other body. Reaching the dig site in a helicopter, the two Battles spot El Grando wearing the legendary head-band, which gives him the ability to emit blasts from his eyes. Battles' two bodies team up to defeat El Grando and destroy the head-band, rejoining just in time before sundown. Note: Despite the title of this story, Cliff Battles is never actually referred to as Split Man. [“The Split Man,” Strange Adventures #203 (August, 1967)]

June 5: The Six-Day War with Israeli forces against Arab forces, ends with Israel's occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the east bank of the Suez Canal.

June 17: The People's Republic of China announces the explosion of its first hydrogen bomb.

August, 1967

While Slam Bradley is out of town, Shorty Morgan has his last known case as a private detective in New York City. Note: At some point after this story, Slam Bradley relocates to Metropolis and sets up a private investigation practice there under the assumed identity of Dan Delta, soon establishing himself as the city's toughest detective. See “Superman's Last Hour,” Superman #90 (September, 1954). [“Too Many Morgans,” Detective Comics #152 (October, 1949)]

September, 1967

At age 17, Bruce Wayne begins attending Gotham University, later majoring in criminology and law. [Speculation based on the fact that Bruce graduates from university at age 20 in 1970.]

1968

Unspecified month in 1968

Garfield Logan is born to explorers Mark and Marie Logan.

January, 1968

The North Vietnamese launches the Tet Offensive, marking a turning point in the Vietnam War.

March, 1968

Johnny Peril – newsman, scientist, adventurer, soldier of fortune – has his first recorded adventure. Johnny is a man without a past who never seems to age. Note: An Earth-2 version of Johnny Peril also exists, whose adventures were chronicled in the late 1940s and early 1950s. [Unexpected #106]

March 16: The My Lai Massacre occurs when U.S. troops kill scores of civilians. When the story goes public in November, 1969, it undermines popular support for the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.

March 31: President Johnson announces he will not seek reelection.

April, 1968

April 4: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is slain in Memphis by assassin James Earl Ray.

May, 1968

The Robot-Teacher from Krypton invented by Jor-El returns when Superboy is on the verge of manhood for his final lesson. Clark Kent falls in love for the first time with a Smallville High School student named Misty, who has transferred in from out of state and has quickly become the most popular girl in school, thanks to her beauty and intelligence. Superboy soon discovers that the Robot-Teacher has engineered his first love by taking a beautiful girl (whose true name is unknown) from elsewhere in the country and temporarily rewriting her mind and personality to conform with Superboy's ideal mate. After this story, the Robot-Teacher rewrites Misty's mind to its previous state and returns her to her real life. Note: Although this story was published before The New Adventures of Superboy series, the context places it after that series in Clark Kent's graduating year, when he is on the verge of manhood, making this an untold tale similar to the one seen in Superman #146, which shows how the Kents die. [“Don't Call Me Superboy,” DC Super Stars #12 (February, 1977)]

June, 1968

Hal Jordan, son of Larry and Helen Jordan, born.

June 5-6: Senator Robert Kennedy, Democratic presidential contender, is shot in a Los Angeles hotel by assassin Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy dies the next day.

July, 1968

The Blackhawks abandon the “New Blackhawk Era” when G.E.O.R.G.E. is completely destroyed, and they return to their original uniforms and methods of operation. [“My Brother, My Keeper,” Blackhawk #242 (August-September, 1968)]

August, 1968

August 9: Jonathan and Martha Kent die of a fever plague contracted while on a Caribbean vacation. [“The Last Days of Ma and Pa Kent,” Superman #161 (May, 1963); “The Story of Superman's Life,” Superman #146 (July, 1961)]

August 20-21: Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring of political liberalization.

August 22-30: Police clash with anti-war protesters in Chicago outside the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

September, 1968

Clark Kent begins attending Metropolis University. Perry White soon proves that Superboy has made Metropolis his new home. Lana Lang also attends Metro U at first, while Pete Ross (who goes on to become a geologist) and Lois Lane attend Raleigh College, which is near Metropolis. Clark's first roommate is Dave Hammond. [Superman #362, 365-366]

After their last case, the Blackhawks go into semi-retirement for the first time since they were founded in 1940 in order to concentrate on personal matters and projects. Note: The Blackhawks as a team are not seen again until 1974, when they participate in a mission fighting the White Martians alongside several super-heroes. They then begin working as mercenaries from 1975 to 1976, when they retire for good. [“Mission Incredible,” Blackhawk #243 (October-November, 1968)]

September 3: Superboy's last day in Smallville. [Superman #97]

September 17: This day marks the official day that Superboy makes Metropolis his new home. [“Superman's Greatest Enemy,” Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #30 (August, 1958).]

October, 1968

Sargon crosses over from Earth-2. TNT loses control of his powers. [“Captain Comet's Rehab Squad: In Search Of”]

November, 1968

The Vigilante goes into semi-retirement after his last case. Note: Sometime after this story Stuff is married and has a son of his own. [Action Comics #198]

1969

January, 1969

January 20: Richard Nixon is inaugurated as president of the United States.

March, 1969

Rock star Jim Rook is pulled into another dimension where he becomes the Nightmaster and stops the warlocks of Myrra. He returns to Earth with a mighty sword. [Showcase #82-84]

March 22: Princess Diana, now 19 years old, is invited by her mother Queen Hippolyta to drink from the Fountain of Eternal Youth in a secret grove on Paradise Island, which grants her immortality as long as she remains on Paradise Island. [“The Golden Age Secret Origin of Wonder Woman,” Wonder Woman #159 (January, 1966); “The Secret Origin of Wonder Woman,” DC Special Series #19 (Fall, 1979)]

May, 1969

May 14: Superboy is challenged to think like a Superman by Marla Harvey, a former Metropolis University student who dies while trying to build a school for underprivileged youths. [“The Day Superboy Became Superman,” Action Comics #393]

June, 1969

July, 1969

July 20: Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin, members of the Apollo 11 crew, officially become the first human beings to walk on the Moon. Note: Superboy and others have already visited the Moon by this time.

Abel's public storytelling at the House of Secrets begins. [House of Secrets #81]

Superboy meets Mr. Lundgren, a school janitor who possesses ESP and knows Superboy's secret identity until an explosion causes him to lose his memory. [“The Man with the X-Ray Mind,” Action Comics #403]

Superboy battles the Puzzler. [Action Comics #49]

August, 1969

August 15-17: The Woodstock Festival is held in Woodstock, New York.

September, 1969

Lorna Martin arrives from Dimension 7 at the beginning of the Fall semester to carry out her assignment to attend school as an Earth girl. As the most beautiful girl at Metropolis University, she is sought after by many, and even Clark Kent has a crush on her. [“The Girl Who Worshipped Clark Kent,” Action Comics #411]

Superboy teaches a lesson to Stan Rivers and the Zeta Mu fraternity, who haze Clark Kent as a prank. Note: Dave Hammond, Clark's roommate, moves into Ducky Ginsberg's room after this story because of his lack of loyalty, while Tommy Lee moves into Clark's room. [“The Day They Killed Clark Kent,” Action Comics #404]

October, 1969

After being contaminated by a powerful strain of bacteria, Superboy is forced to become Super-X for 24 hours, during which time he keeps Lana Lang from learning his identity. [“The Shocking Secret of Super-X,” Action Comics #408]

November, 1969

November 21: The first ARPANET link (the progenitor of the Internet) is established.